Weekending - December 14, 2018

Mondays.  Wow - do they roll around quickly.  And just think, in one week we'll be celebrating Christmas Eve.  This is going to be one busy week getting ready for Christmas!  But before I start looking forward to that, I'd like to look back and reflect on the weekend.

Friday morning I loaded the Amtrak train for a five hour trip to Kansas City.  It was Cookie Day on Saturday at my friend Jodie's house and I was pretty darn excited to be able to join the fun.  To make the weekend even more special, I decided to take the day off so I could arrive early on Friday to spend the afternoon and evening with my friend Linda.  It was going to be a fabulous weekend!

Now, let's chat about the train trip.  I thought it would be great to cross the state by train.  I would be able read, catch up on email and enjoy the trip without having to watch the road and drive by myself.  Amtrak called bright and early to let me know there had been a slight change of plans.  Due to a train derailment, we would climbing on a bus for half the trip.  Ugh.  I really wasn't that excited about not being able to take the train the entire trip, but I was still excited about spending some time with my friend.

I'll be honest -- I took enough stuff with me on the train that I could probably have gone coast to coast a couple of times and still not gotten through half of what I brought with me to do.  What I did get done was finish reading a book I had started.  I love to pick up a holiday themed book this time of year.  This year's pick with Christmas in Good Hope by Cindy Kirk.  It's like a good Hallmark movie with the romance kicked up to an R rating. Good Hope is located in one of my favorite places - Door County, Wisconsin.  And this is the first of a seven book series so I have lots of reading to do! 

Linda was waiting for me when I rolled in on the bus and we shopped our little hearts out in downtown Lee's Summit.  There were so many quaint little boutiques to meander in and out of.  

We had reservations at the speakeasy called The W.  We'd been there before but I had struggled to find a drink there that I loved.  Linda's favorite is a smoked bourbon drink and bourbon just doesn't do it for me.  After a brief chat with our waiter discussing what I typically like and don't like, he suggested a drink that was a winner!  I wish I could remember the name of it, but it escapes me.  What I do remember is that it was GOOD!

From The W, we headed to dinner at Pearl Tavern.  It's a seafood joint and if you go, I suggest getting the calamari for an appetizer.  YUM!  Linda had the crab cakes and they were okay.  I had the lobster roll and requested it be served hot (instead of the cold that is their typical way of serving it).  Their lobster roll was a close second to my favorite roll served at The Peacemaker in St. Louis.  If you're in the KC area and looking for seafood, this eatery is definitely worth checking out.

Saturday morning was cookie day!  We loaded up all our ingredients and cooking essentials and headed over to Jodie's.  When we got there, cookies were already going in and out of the oven and the mixer was spinning up batter.  Linda and I decided to sit out for a while and play some games.  I learned a new game - Azul.  This is a fun, family game that can be played with 2-4 players age 8 and up with the typical game taking about 30-40 minutes to complete.  If you're looking for a family game to add to your collection, I strongly recommend this one!  You can get it HERE.

                  

Literally hundreds of cookies were baked on Saturday and I didn't bake a single one of them.  The game playing was so much fun I did that all day long.  The fun was just being there with my friends.  The guys were in the another room playing games and watching football.  The kids were running in and out playing with their cousins.  All the while, the scents of freshly baked cookies filled the air.  The atmosphere alone made the trip worth it.  Maybe next year I'll actually do some baking.  

Sunday morning I traveled back home to work on my to-do list.  I'm having a going away party for a friend from work on Wednesday and things needed to get done!  Plus all the wrapping.  Jeez - that's a never-ending job!  Oh, and the baking I didn't do on Saturday. 

Now we're at Monday and Christmas is getting closer and closer.  I better get busy!  See you back here soon!